Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim celebrates winning gold REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
Doha: It was champion stuff from Mutaz Essa Barshim as he bounced back brilliantly to win first gold medal for Qatar with a world leading leap of 2.37m, turning the Khalifa International Stadium into the sea of Qatari flags and sending the crowd into raptures.
Yesterday, it looked completely a different day at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 as a packed house of 48000 seats created an electrifying atmosphere, supporting their superstar every time he went for a leap.
By retaining the title, Barshim, who also clinched gold medal at the 2017 London World Championships, became only the second high jumper in the world to win two world titles. Cuban great Javier Sotomayor was the first high jumper to achieve the feat.
The two-time Olympic medalist yesterday gave fans all the excitement – showed them flawless leaps, made them nervous before giving them the euphoria.
The 28-year-old, who suffered from an ankle injury and was barely seen in action in the last 18 months before the world championships, enjoyed a comfortable start, jumping to 2.19m, 2.24m, 2.27m and 2.30 without knocking the bar.
After his smooth run in his first four marks, the home favourite failed twice in the 2.33m barrier, with Belarusian Maksim Nedasekau, Authorised Neutral Athletes Mikhail Akimenko and Ilya Ivanyuk all clearing the height.
Then came the moment of truth for the Qatari hero, and he came out of it with flying colours.
He looked emotional but focused and jumped well clear of 2.33 to stay in contention.
With that jump, Barshim looked a champion already as he cleared 2.35m easily before Akimenko raised the bar to 2.37m.
While, Akimenko failed to clear the height, Barshim did that in the first attempt to seal the crown screaming “I am Mutaz Barshim, I am the world champion”.
“For me, it was just a dream. At home, it was just amazing. Everybody was there – my family, friends and the Amir himself. I was not 100 percent ready but when I came there and see all those people cheering for me, even if I was dying, if they take me from the wheelchair, or ambulance, I would do everything I can,” the champion high jumper said after the final.
“I needed to give it some action. If I jumped the 2.33 easy, it is boring and everyone just jumps, jumps, jumps. My coach was sometimes toughing his hearts but sometimes you need to get it the hard way. I am never afraid but Russia, they always have good high jumpers. So it was good to jump against those good high jumpers. I give respect to everyone out there,” Barshim said.
Akimenko, who had first time clearances up to 2.35m, claimed the silver medal while Ivanyuk, who matched the 2.35m of his Russian counterpart but needed three to get over at 2.33m, took the bronze.
“I must be happy for the bronze (silver) as this is my first major senior championships. The personal record is great but I know I could have jumped the 237 in the second attempt,” said Akimenko.
It is a great motivation for the Olympic year and I am going to jump as much as I can also indoors,” he added.
Ivanyuk said: “We had a really fantastic competition today. Certainly, when we knew years ago, that these championships are going to be held in Doha, we understood that Mutaz Barshim will be in greatest shape ever to fight for the gold.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Tamberi Gianmarco who competed in the final rated Barshim as best high jumper in the world.
“Barshim is no doubt the best high jumper in the world. It’s a great achievement for Barshim, winning a gold medal in front of home fans,” said Gianmarco.
